ABSTRACT
This research work examined the Difficulties Encountered by
Students in Solving Algebraic Problems in Surulere Education District of Lagos
State. The design used for the study was a descriptive survey for collecting
data from a sample of one hundred and twenty students and fifteen mathematics
teachers from four senior secondary schools selected. The instrument used was
questionnaires for students, questionnaires for teachers and diagnostic test
for the students on algebra. Chapter one of this work is introduction which
deals with the background of the study, research questions, significance of the
study, scope and limitation of the study, chapter two include the literature
review of the previous researchers, the importance of mathematics and algebra,
difficulties students encountered in solving algebraic problems, effect of the
prerequisite knowledge of students in algebra, possible solutions to the difficulties
encountered by students in solving algebraic problems, chapter three discusses
the research methodology, chapter four discusses presentation and analysis of
the data collected from teachers and students. Chapter five deals with the
summary, discussion, recommendations and conclusions.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
TITLE
PAGES
CERTIFICATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
ABSTRACT v
TITLE CONTENTS vi
CHAPTER
ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
1.4 RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
CHAPTER
TWO: REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
2.1
INTRODUCTION
2.2 THE IMPORTANCE OF MATHEMATICS AND ALGEBRA:
2.3 DIFFICULTIES
STUDENTS ENCOUNTERED IN SOLVING ALGEBRIC PROBLEMS
2.4 EFFECT
OF PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS IN
ALGEBRA
2.5 POSSIBLE
SOLUTIONS TO THE DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY THE STUDENTS IN SOLVING ALGEBRAIC
PROBLEMS
2.6 SUMMARY
CHAPTER
THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 INTRODUCTION
3.1 THE
DESIGN OF THE STUDY
3.2 AREA
OF THE STUDY
3.3 POPULATION
OF THE STUDY
3.4 SAMPLE
AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
3.5 RESEARCH
INSTRUMENTS
3.6 METHOD
OF DATA COLLECTION
3.7 METHOD
OF DATA ANALYSIS
CHAPTER
FOUR : DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 INTRODCUTION
4.2 PRESENTATION
OF DATA
4.3 ANALYSIS
OF DATA
4.4 TEST
OF HYPOTHESIS
4.5 ANALYSIS
AND PRESENTATION OF RESULT
4.6 MISTAKES
MADE BY THE STUDENTS
CHAPTER
FIVE: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION AND
CONCLUSION
5.1 SUMMARY
5.2 RECOMMENDATION
5.3 CONCLUSION
5.3.4 FOUNDATION
REFERENCES
APPENDIX
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Education is seen as the best means for
developing the potentialities of young and adult learners so that they can in
turn make meaningful contribution to the development of the society. Education
in Nigeria is an instrument “par excellence” for effecting national development
(National policy on Education, 2004). It is generally recognized that no
society or nation can make only significant progress without relevant
education.
According to Ivowi (2003), national
development can only occur if there is a crop of human resources with
sufficient knowledge and skills to interact with ideas and materials in order
to produce the required result. The development of an individual started from
his early childhood particularly at primary school (Owolabi, 1991).
Mathematics can be defined in various ways
but according to the Oxford dictionary (1982) it is the “science of numbers”.
Mathematics is also referred to as the acquisition of the ability by an
individual to apply deductive and inductive, reasoning to real life situation.
Abiodun (1989) states that Mathematics is
the core of all educational objective so to indulge people into functioning
effectively and efficiently especially in an age of modern technology. It
requires the person studying it to acquire the in depth knowledge of mathematics so that he or she
can understand the theories of the subject.
Ames(1992) said that Mathematics enhances
problem solving skills and analysis skills of students. It enables students to
apply their skills to both familiar and unfamiliar situations.
Dale (2008) describes Mathematics as a
base for all technologies. All innovations
are by product of science and mathematics. It is applied in medicine,
engineering, natural science, social science, physical science, technology, business
and commerce. It is necessary in learning computer science, computers are to be
found in banks, hospitals, universities etc. they are used by accountants,
doctors, teachers, research scientists, students and many others, all these
becomes a reality as a result of the importance of mathematics in all aspects
of human life.
Butler (1960) describes mathematics as the
bedrock of all human knowledge. This is
because mathematics has been in the forefront
of human endeavours to understand
his environment and be able to aggregate all factors in it, to make life
comfortable for him. Hence mathematics embraces many branches of science and
highly required in many spheres of life
regardless of the manner of level of
application.
Kenku (1988) defines mathematics as the
language of science. He further explains that mathematics could be better
defined as the study of numbers, shapes, physical systems and their
relationship.
Mathematics plays a major part in the
human daily lives, it started with counting, by the primitive man, this
led to computation argument and logical
thinking followed. It is common knowledge that mathematics is allocated the
greatest number of period in the secondary school’s timetable, however students
perform least in it.
The objective of teaching mathematics in
Senior Secondary school are:
1. To generate interest in mathematics and lay a
solid foundation for everyday living.
2. To
develop pupils computational skills.
3. Encourage
creativity and provide necessary mathematical background for further education.
4. To
develop ability to be accurate to a degree relevant to the problem at hand.
5. To
develop ability to recognize problems and to solve them appropriately and
relate to mathematical knowledge.,
6. To
develop precise, logical and abstract thinking.
Don Small (2002) Identified high school
preparation, placement, syllabus, content, face, attitude, lack of persistence,
determination and pedagogy etc as the main factors that contribute to poor
performance of student in mathematics.
Many children growing into the adulthood
have developed negative attitude towards algebra (Brekke, 2001) students easily
understand algebra and it is a source of
consideration, confusion and negative attitudes among students.
According to Encarta premium (2006) He defined algebra as a branch of mathematics in
which symbols (usually letters) reqpresents unknown numbers in mathematical
equations algebra allows the basic
operations of arithmetic’s, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division to be performed without using
specific numbers. Mac Gregor (2004) listed the reasons why students should be
helped to easily understand algebra and solve problems in it. Amongst which
are:
First, algebra is a vital part of the
general knowledge of numbers in a democratic society secondly, it is
pre-requisite for further study of mathematics, thirdly it is a crucial
component of mathematical literacy, fourthly it is an efficient way of solving
certain types of problems, finally, it promotes generalizations, organized
thinking and deductive reasoning which are keys to intellectual activities.
1.2 STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
Mathematics in Nigeria education is a core
and compulsory subject, an important aspect of which is algebra. Although
teachers often teach students this
aspect of mathematics, researchers have shown that there is a low output in
terms of students performance in algebra (Ignacio, 2006). This indicates that
many students at SSS t level do not have a good grasp of the algebraic aspects
of mathematics.
According to Edgeton (2000), the teaching
of algebra is not allowed to grow out of direct experience and most
algebraic ideas are simply handed over
by the teacher than helping students to
discover them.
According to Okello 2010 and Parker,
(1999) most problems encountered by students include:
i.
Teachers inability to teach the
fundamentals of algebra i.e guides students to discover how generalizations in
algebra are derived.
ii.
The use of inappropriate methods in the
teaching of algebra.
iii.
Lack of motivation
iv.
Lack of practice
v.
Lazy students
vi.
Poor use of resources. These problems
need urgent attention and are likely to
affect our national development if not handled adequately.
1.3 PURPOSE
OF THE STUDY
The main purpose of this study is to
investigate the difficulties encountered
by S.S.I students in solving Algebraic
problems in Surulere Local Education District of Lagos State, Nigeria.
The objectives of the study are to:
1.
Identify the difficulties that students
encounter in solving algebraic problem
at S.S. I level.
2.
Identify the various factors contributing
to the difficulties faced by students while
solving algebraic problems.
3.
Assess student’s level of performance in algebra S.S.T level in the study
population.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following
research questions were proposed for this study.
1.
What are the problems encountered by
students at SS1 level in solving algebraic problems?.
2.
What factors give rise to these problems?
3.
What is the level of performance of
students in algebra in the study sample?
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will be particularly useful to
senior secondary school mathematics teachers as it will give them insight
into the problem faced by students at
the immediate higher level, hence they
will be better equipped to groom their students adequately.
It will be as well of benefit to
curriculum developers in time tabling and other administrative process
concerning this unique subject. It is also useful to S.S.S.I students so as to
identify the solution in solving problems algebra in senior secondary school.
1.6 SCOPE
AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The
Study covered Senior Secondary School selected from Surulere Local Government
Education District of Lagos State.
The
possible limitation to the study were financial and time constraints.
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